Draft plan for special species timber harvesting

Young myrtle: A draft plan has been released to manage harvesting of special species including myrtle (pictured), blackwood and celery top pine. Picture: Archive

A draft management plan would allow special species timber harvesting to occur as soon as possible after proposed legislation is passed, Resources Minister Guy Barnett says.

The state government released a draft management plan for the long-term harvesting of Tasmanian special species timbers for public consultation on Friday.

Mr Barnett said under current legislation, special species harvesting in forest classified as Future Potential Production Forest could only take place if the timber could not be supplied from Permanent Timber Production Zone land.

He said other “roadblocks” included requirements for an application to be assessed against a list of 12 land management objectives, and for the Crown Lands Minister to take advice at several stages from the Resources Minister.

“This unworkable application process in the current Act makes it highly unlikely that special species can be harvested from these production forests until Labor – who blocked our [Unlocking Production Forests Bill] in the Legislative Council – reverse their opposition to it,” Mr Barnett said.

“By releasing a draft plan for public consultation now, we are ensuring that we will have an approved Special Species Management Plan in place so that harvesting can commence as soon as possible after our legislation passes.”

The state government’s Unlocking Production Forests Bill was voted down in the Upper House last month.

Labor spokesman David Llewellyn said the Opposition would be open to separate legislation targeting the special species sector.

“In principle we recognise the need to sustainably and selectively harvest special species timbers through a ‘tread widely, tread lightly’ approach,” Mr Llewellyn said.

“The fact is – the process the Minister describes was established under his government’s own legislation.”

“In exchange for being the only group of people willing to back the minister’s destructive forestry “plan”, Minister Barnett has gifted the specialty timber industry almost open-slather harvesting rights,” Ms O’Connor said.